Trust Building Excercises
by Rabid Chibi Squirrels Inc
Summary: My first Twister fic! Laurence wants Jo to trust him, but Jo's dealing with inner struggles. Is it about Bill? Or has she found a new love? LaurenceJo


_**Kitsune here, guys! It's a new fanfic I'm working on! Yay! A one-shot. Now, I am a big fan of **__**TWISTER**__**, and, no, I don't mean the game. I mean the movie. So, anyway, it's my favortie movie (Spirited Away is my favorite ANIME movie), and I was rewatching it again, especially the drive-in scene and all the scenes regarding Laurence and Jo. Now I feel like a bad person because I thought of this pairing and it's not a Bill Jo pairing. To be honest, I don't like Bill the most (no offense, he's cool and all, but . . .). My favorite character is Laurence (maybe its just because he resembles a guy from my school -shrug-). And so, I came up with a JoLaurence pairing. Nothing serious, just a bunch of fluff! Light, semi-tangible fluff! Please enjoy and don't flame me; I'm only doing my job! -cries-**_

_**Sorry, I'm also kinda freaked out because I just tried to call my drama teacher at his house (3 times. He wasn't there.) and then the woman gave me his cell number and I called him and he sounded EXTREMELY angry to hear that I'd called his house. I think they think I'ma stalker, now. And so, I'm freaked. Obviously, my teacher is NOT the kind of guy you want to get mad. So, I'm freaked out and I feel guilty because now I think he's mad at me and that he's gonna get me. -shudder- I DON'T WANNA DIE!!**_

_**Please review. I own nothing.**_

_**On a note, some good songs to listen to while reading this fanfic are (underlined ones are really good):**_

_**"Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne**_

_**"It's Not Your Fault", "**__**Make Your Move**__**", or "**__**Boulders**__**" by New Found Glory**_

_**"I Can't Stop Loving You", "**__**Won't Let You Down**__**", "Stupid Boy", "**__**Used To The Pain**__**", or "**__**Everybody**__**" by Keith Urban**_

_**"My Wish", "Pieces", "Yes I Do" "**__**To Make Her Love Me**__**" or "Cool Thing" by Rascal Flatts (well, not really "Cool Thing" but it sounds good with the fanfic)**_

_**"Open Season on My Heart", "**__**Just Be Your Tear**__**", or "We Carry On" by Tim McGraw (once again, maybe not Open Season On My Heart, but the melody sounds good with the song)**_

_**"If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback**_

_**Possibly "Baby It's You" by Jo-Jo (??????)**_

_**Trust-Building Excercises**_

Laurence groaned as he cleaned out the auto-focus once more. No matter where he was, no matter what coverage he had, he _always_ got grass in the focus mount. And he knew that as long as he kept getting grass in the auto-focus, Jo would always be disappointed in him.

There was a sudden hoot and holler from the opposite side of the clearing, and Laurence turned his head to look. "Oh yeah, baby! Whoo! F3 touched down 30 miles south!" The voice was unmistakeable; Dusty. At once, there was a flurry of activity as the rest of the crew began packing away and starting to head out. Laurence finished, stuffed the camera in the truck and climbed into the driver's seat, waiting for Joey to climb into the passenger's seat. As soon as that happened, they were off.

Today's chase went by. It wasn't very eventful; just the usual. Jo nearly got herself killed by straying into the damage path but miraculously escaped, only slightly frazzled and dazed.

He noted her attitude. She was still sulking. Once the F5 had been 'conquered', Bill returned to find Melissa waiting for him. Apparently, she'd changed her mind, and Bill returned to his job as weatherman. The gang watched him, time-to-time, on the 6 o'clock news. Of course, Jo was heartbroken, but she continued to chase the tornados, like usual, pretending nothing had happened.

Laurence didn't like it. Jo practically poured her heart out to Bill, but Bill went and betrayed her. And now look at her! It wasn't that she coincidentally happened to be right smack dab in the middle of a life-or-death experience, anymore. She was purposefully putting herself there. He could only imagine what she was thinking in those times.

"Hey, Laurence, you here, buddy?" Joey's voice snapped him out of his deep thinking. He turned his head to look at him.

"Hm?"

"You seem out of it lately," Joey stated, leaning back in the seat, "Like Jo."

Laurence turned his eyes back to the road. "Yeah . . ." It wasn't a secret to Joey. Joey knew Laurence admired Jo, after all, Joey was Laurence's best friend; hence the reason he sat shotgun. It wasn't because he was the only one left without a ride. Laurence preffered Joey over anyone else because he'd spent a lot of time with him when he was a child growing up in Nebraska. Best friends fight to the end, as they say.

"When do you think Jo's gonna snap out of it?" Joey asked.

Laurence shrugged. "I dunno, Jo's headstrong. I doubt she'd listen to anyone but Bill at a time like this. Heck, that's what she needs."

Joey turned off their frequency on the radio so the conversation was private. "Do you think it's better that Bill's not here?"

"I'm having mixed feelings," Laurence told him, "I'm glad he's not here because now I can get a chance to get closer to her, but if I'm gonna do that, Bill's gonna have to soften her up first. She's gotta snap out of this. I think she's depressed, Joey."

Joey laughed, softly. "You really are a lovestruck fool."

Laurence grinned over at him. "I am, aren't I?" The pair laughed and turned the radio back on until they got back to their "camp."

That evening would be peaceful. There were no swells rolling in from the west, no pressure for a storm. For once, there was peace in Tornado Alley. At least, for tonight.

Laurence gathered up a pillow and blanket while he walked barefoot across the dirt, brushing his teeth with one hand. He drifted lazily across the grounds, heading towards his truck. He'd changed into a fresh pair of blue-checkered pajama pants and was all set for some good, well-deserved rest. He spit out the glop of toothpaste mixed with saliva into the tall grass and breathed in through his mouth, enjoying the cool sensation on the roof of his mouth and along his tongue, where the spicy aftertaste of the toothpaste assaulted his tastebuds.

The order of sleepers usually went like this; Dusty was always the first to drop, taking refuge in Barn Burner, his "tricked-out" bus; next were Haynes and Beltzer; then Sanders and Joey; Preacher fell after that; finally Rabbit and then it was his turn. Jo was usually the latest to stay up, but it depended on her mood.

Laurence reached the truck, climbing into the cab; Joey usually took the back, not that he minded. He laid the pillow on the window sill and stretched out. However, as he was going down, and he looked out the windshield, something perked his interest, and he raised himself on his arms to get a better look. Someone was sitting on the top of a CAT backhoe. He could only see a silhouette.

Curiously, he got back out of the truck and wandered over. The person had their back facing him, and was staring out into the starry sky. He looked up at her. "Jo?"

Jo looked over her shoulder at him. She smiled. "Laurence."

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Jo shook her head and gestured to him. "C'mon up. You have to check this out."

Laurence was on it. He climbed up the side and sat next to Jo. He looked where she pointed, to Orion's Belt and other various constellations.

"The clouds usually cover it up. We hardly ever get to see the stars." Jo said. Laurence leaned back on the palms of his hands. The cool night air brushed against his chest; he'd left the shirt of his PJ's open because it was relatively warm these days. The wind seemed to brush his troubles away. He was sitting next to Jo, staring at the stars. What could be better?

Jo sighed. "It's so beautiful," she whispered almost reverently.

Laurence nodded, tilting his head up to look. He grasped Jo's arm and pointed to the sky. "Look!" He traced a shooting star's path as it shot across the sky. He grinned as he saw Jo smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. She looked down. Laurence turned to her, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Jo nodded and jumped down from the backhoe, walking back to her new jeep. Laurence watched her go, painfully. His eyebrows knotted together and he looked at her, pitifully. "Hey, Jo," he called, making her turn around. He saw the pained expression in her eyes and all reserve crumbled. He jumped down off the roof of the machine and jogged over, embracing her in a hug. "Feel better, okay?" he said, pulling away. "Everyone's worried about you. You've been acting like this since Bill came." _'Does it pain you to think about letting him go?' _he wondered, silently.

"I'm fine, Laurence, really," Jo laughed, softly.

"You may say so, but I can see it in your eyes. You're having trouble letting him go," Laurence said. Jo raised her gaze, glaring him down.

"And what business is it of yours?" she demanded, hotly.

Laurence only returned the fierce attitude. "I think it's all my business. It's my business, Haynes's business, Beltzer's, Dusty's, Rabbit's, Sander's, Preacher's, and Joey's! We're your friends, Jo, not just your colleagues, and we care about you. It's even Meg and Moze's business, and Moze is a dog! Don't you get it? You are surrounded by people who love you! The world doesn't revolve around Bill! I know he was your husband, but you have to move on! He's moved on. It wasn't that he didn't love you, it was because he couldn't bare to see you get hurt because of him!"

"So he left me to get hurt on my own?" Jo replied.

"You're not the only one hurting, Jo!" Laurence laughed, irritatedly, "We're all hurting because you're hurting. You're our leader and our friend. We trust and look up to you. We admire you because you're the strongest of us all. Bill? Bill was a fool to let someone like you go, do you know that? He missed out on something special!" Laurence turned to walk away, leaving Jo staring, silently, at his retreating back. He wiped his hand over his face, wiping sweat away.

Dusty poked his head, sleepily, out of his bus. "Yo, what's the deal?"

"It's nothing, Dusty, go back to sleep," came Beltzer's voice. Dusty shrugged and crawled back in the bus.

"Laurence . . ." Jo said, almost to herself. A ghost of a smile danced across her face. "This is the first time I've heard you speak out like that."

Laurence stopped and turned to look back at her. "Well, you put me in one heck of a mood, right now, so . . ." He turned and walked back to her. "I didn't mean to get snippy, I just want you to realise how stupid this is."

"How stupid _what_ is?"

Laurence laughed, raising his arms up and gesturing to everything. "_THIS!_ Everything! We're living smack dab in the middle of a freaking see-saw! One minute everything's calm and balanced and then some stupid issue comes and upsets everything! Even something so minor as our little spat back there. I mean, we were just staring at the sky and then all this happened! I—I don't even remember what caused it!" He laughed, then turned to look at her. "Well, Jo? What made this happen? Care to share?"

Jo turned, taking a few steps in the opposite direction, fiddling with her old school ring, fitting it on and off of her ring finger. She was contemplating telling him the truth. He could tell. He knew her mannerisms by now.

"Well, Jo?" he persisted.

Jo turned back around after a little while, going up to him. "I've been thinking. Rethinking things. Maybe it was a mistake, I don't know." She seemed to be rambling on with no point. Laurence saw no real issue other than that she was rethinking something . . . that something was a mistake and that she was confused.

"What were you confused about?" he asked.

Jo looked him right in the eye as she said, "I was rethinking if it was the right thing to really forget about Bill and fall in love with someone else."

"What?"

"Lately, I've been confused about certain things. I have been thinking about all the good times me and Bill had, but I'd also thought of our constant spats. And now I realise, it wouldn't have worked out even if we did get back together! Everything was just going to go back to bickering and arguing, and then Bill would just go find himself another wife and another reason for another divorce. And I don't want that.

"I _have_ also been thinking about all of us. We are so close, we're like brothers and sisters. And then I realised that I didn't love Bill so much as I thought I did. I realised I loved someone else, someone who's been here with me every step of the way." Jo looked him deep in the eyes, smiling a genuine smile for once in a long time. It brought a smile to his lips, too. It didn't matter anymore who she loved; she could have loved Jonas for all he cared now, so long as she continued to smile like this from now on.

And so, her next phrase shocked him to the core.

"And he's standing before me right now."

Although he was surprised, he was happy—ecstatic. "Are you serious?"

"All you said about trust and love . . ." Jo smiled, taking his hand, "I never thought you were that deep."

"You made me that way . . ." Laurence muttered. "You were one of the few people who actually cared for me, and you all took me in when I had nowhere to go. Since then, I admired you. I wanted to be just like you. I trusted you with my life so many times, and I was just waiting for the chance where you'd trust me with yours." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. Jo leaned her head against his and sighed. Together, they walked back to the backhoe, climbing up and staring at the stars.

Haynes, Beltzer, Dusty, Sanders, Preacher, Rabbit, and Joey all looked at each other from the open doors of their vehicles and smiled at each other.

_**Yay! It's done! TWISTER ROX!! For those of you who love odd pairings, here's one! Yay! Please review, and listen to the songs, they're good!**_


End file.
